On-line buying by women is up across the board. Are you ready to serve this growing demographic with a women-friendly site?

Whether they are purchasing books, toys, or homes, women shoppers on-line are up by over 308 percent as of 1998. Over 70 percent of buying decisions are made by women. The majority of AOL subscribers, numbering about 17 million, are women. According to market observer Acxiom/DataQuick, women from Baltimore to Georgia are gaining numbers as home buyers, accounting for as many as 43.1 of home buyers in certain markets. Statistics such as these indicate the importance of attracting and keeping this important demographic on your Web site. What do you need to do?

Keep the Action Moving

According to World Research, the three most common reasons for shopping online were "no crowds" (80%), "ability to shop day or night" (75%), and "freedom from traffic and parking" (70%) says net observer Annette Hamilton. But, she points out, users complained that 39 percent of sites aren't user-friendly enough. As the cure, Hamilton advises that you keep navigation consumer-friendly and give the user plenty to jump around. Most shoppers jump between a core group of sites, she says, so give your customer something to visit besides your beauty page.

Although Hamilton's advice is geared for retail sites, the principles also hold true for real estate sites. Have a wide range of links that will cover the possible areas of interest that your women surfers have. Hamilton suggests that a good working ratio is that you triple the number of sites that link to yours.

Give Women What They Want

What do women want when they use the computer to go on-line? They want ease of use. They want the computer, the Internet and individual sites to offer practical reasons for being on-line so they don't sacrifice productivity in other areas of their lives. Time is of the essence.

Women on the Internet tend to use their PCs as learning and entertainment centers, says DogByte software designer Mark Wong. They tend to think in terms of occasions and enjoy commemorating the watermarks of life. They teach their children edutainment programs and are the ones responsible for getting their children on the Internet.

Women have different decision making styles than men. Research shows that when women surf the 'Net, they visit fewer sites, but they spend longer when they arrive. So give them something to do! Make sure you have content on your site which will appeal to women's concerns.

Develop your site with decision-making points in mind. Women who surf the net outside of work are interested in homes, the community, children's welfare, and improving the quality of life for their families. Put links on your site that are geared to answering those needs. Women are most likely to want to: research schools, seek information on trailing spouses and employment, explore the community, chat with others on-line, look at home improvement options, and comparison shop for services.

Get the Family Involved

Schools are the number two most requested searches next to homes in the home search process. You can provide easy access to school information in your area by offering school information such as School Profile or School Report on your site. Add information about your community with DataQuick, or by linking to RealEstate.com, formerly Resicom.

Surveys show that women are the most likely ones to teach family members at home how to use the Internet and to go on-line in the company of another family member. Yet, most real estate sites do little to address women's concerns on their sites.

You can enhance the content on your site to attract this powerful demographic by including features to give information about children and to amuse children of all ages. List and put links to teen organizations, recreation centers, the Parks and Wildlife Department, and any place that has educational and recreational programs for children in the area you like to serve. Put them on a map on your site. Have your Web master create overlays on the map of your area so that your women customers can easily find services that relate to children.

Think occasions. Put a calendar on your site with links to special events and holidays in your area. Make it easy for women to dive in and become a part of the community.

Home Improvement

Have you ever sold an older home in which the buyers said they weren't planning any improvements? Of course not. Everyone wants to make a home their own. As you well know, its the anticipated changes that often make the sale. The National Retail Hardware Association most recent survey shows that almost half of all home improvement product purchases are made by women. An Owens Corning survey shows that almost 75 percent of women say they are just as good at home improvements as men.

So be sure to put some links on your site to local resources for home improvement, gardening, interior design, decorating, etc. Include information on how to shop for a contractor and what kinds of licensing is required by your state for contractors to operate. Get information from a variety of sources such as the National Association of Home Builders, the National Kitchen and Bath Association, and Improve.net.

Visit other sites, such as iVillage.com, who do a great job marketing to women for more ideas.

Published: April 29, 1999

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